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Justice Time for Minnesota West's law enforcement program

WORTHINGTON -- Blog talk radio allows anyone to host his or her own show, including Markus Murphy, instructor for the law enforcement program at Minnesota West Community and Technical College.

Aptly named "Justice Time," the blog talk radio provides students with an opportunity to think and respond swiftly.

"I wanted a different way to get students to practice their verbal communication," said Murphy, one of the two instructors for the law enforcement program.

"Justice Time," broadcasted live at 6 p.m. Thursday for its third installment where students gathered to discuss various issues related to criminal justice. Recent graduates Travis Cain and Tyler Olson were present along with guest Amber Luinenburg for the evening session.

For the new school year, Murphy plans to make the talk radio a class project with six students in each session. Also in his plan is to recruit participation of high school juniors and seniors who are interested in criminal justice.

"We found out that it not only helps with communication skills but interview skills as well," Murphy said.

His idea was for students to be able to recall their participation on the talk show and use it as talking points in an interview. Cain added that the talk radio helps to keep students informed on current issues.

"I think this helps ease yourself into your career," Olson said.

The main discussion point on Thursday's session revolved around police in the media.

"On TV shows, they don't give much credit to uniformed officers," Cain said. "It's always the detectives or something like that, that comes in and saves the day."

Both Cain and Olson agreed television series about police officers make it harder for them to do their job. Olson noted that the public is quick to believe what they see on television.

"They act like we have some these great machines that we can do stuff in 10 minutes that takes weeks and days to do," he said.

Luinenburg attributes the cause of it to the change in culture. "People expect instant response," she said.

Also discussed among Murphy and the participants recordings of police officers.

"An average cop is on tape 10 times per shift," Murphy said .

"You shouldn't be doing anything wrong in the first place," Cain added, when asked if they would conduct themselves differently if they were being recorded.

"Just always plan on being recorded," Olson said. "It's an integrity thing and always do the right thing, then you wouldn't have to worry about it so much."